February, 2013

Jennifer Lawrence charmed the hell out of me at the Oscars Sunday night. The next day – after I’d already posted a video clip of her post-show interview on my Facebook page – I noticed she was trending on Twitter. Last time I checked, that same video on Youtube has been viewed almost two million times.

And people are giving her love. God this makes me feel better about our world, someone commented on my FB page, and others quickly Liked their agreement.

She’s an interesting comparison to Seth MacFarlane, who also generated attention following his performance as Oscar host – if nowhere near the same level of affection.

…..unique and passionate, the kind a person can track a mile away. By tapping your creative core, exploring your inner fantasy landscape, you will learn how to bring more of yourself into your communication style.

Your voice is who you are.

You don’t need transformation. You’ve already bloomed. You need to remove the blocks that prevent you from being who and what you truly are. Writing erotica scenes — learning how to ‘go there’ – how to reach the hidden parts of yourself and surface the treasure you find — will help you do that. click here

I was struck by this post by online blogger-god Jon Morrow. As one of the “five techniques for spicing up your writing” he recommends that you :

“Our job as writers is to say the things other people are unable or unwilling to say. Sometimes that means being brutally honest, but more often, it means touching the taboo – subjects like cowardice, greed, jealousy, hate, and yes, sex.

Instead of running away from all those scary feelings inside you, cuddle up next to them and say howdy. Get to know them. Learn how they work. See them for what they are rather than what you feared they would be.

Yes, it’s hard, but this is what we do, people. We speak the unspeakable. click here

Recently some friends and I tore up the dance floor. So much so that the organizers of the event came up to me the next day, called me a ‘dance machine’ and said, “You were out there with your crew until the bitter end. You guys set the energy level all night.”

And it occurred to me that some of the happiest moments of my life have been on the dance floor, whether it was some grungy rave club in San Francisco or sleek VIP scene in Miami or Marie Antoinette themed masquerade in Los Angeles or retreat in the Utah mountains run by people well aware of the power of an excellent DJ.

It turns out that dance actually doesmake you happier. Jane McGonigal lists it as one of the ‘happiness hacks’, writing in her book REALITY IS BROKEN:

“Synchronizing physical behavior to music we like is one of the most reliable – not to mention the safest – ways to induce the form of extreme happiness known as euphoria.”